Bills no pressure like last year.

[sukie]

I like this. No one has the Bills even making the Super Bowl. I guess playoff futility has created a “show me” attitude with all the talking heads.

the Bills are anywhere from 4th to 10th in league preseason power rankings. (The 10 is a guess with Acho having Buffalo as 7th in AFC behind Fins and Jets.

no mention at all about Josh and MVP in a sentence. We are basically good. That’s it.


I love this. Can’t wait.

- Josh is healthy. That elbow was more problematic.
- James Cook will get the nod but as of now the RB room is much more talented than start of last year.
- Sherrod , Harty, Rookie Shorter along with Shakir Davis and Diggs is a better WR group
- Kincaid is a weapon and hopefully an opposing teams problem
- the inside of the OLine got upgraded. The Irishman was a steal in The 2nd.

- DLine has serious competition. Prove it play from a few should be fun
- full strength Hyde Poyer Tre. Elam came in second half
- look for rotational LB play. Howard from the Rams is terrific in coverage.
- love the LB draft pick… Williams. One word “Instincts”.
- Dorsey is now less green
- I like McD calling the D

sure no massive FA signings but the ones made seem like smart moves.

oh Von is coming back. Some here think old… dude had 8.5 sacks . Who else had that many in a shortened season?

[Woodman]

download-1.jpg

[Chet]

When I read the thread title I was thinking pressure on the other team’s QB. Doesn’t look like we’ll have that either

[Woodman]

When I read the thread title I was thinking pressure on the other team’s QB. Doesn’t look like we’ll have that either

We'll have to wait and see what McD runs.

[sukie]

A second off season of NFL conditioning on Rousseau has to be a good thing. Getting Von back in Oct should be huge.

[Goobylal]

They're 3rd in Vegas Odds to win the SB though.

[Mr. Pink]

The reason for this in pundits eyes is we basically stayed the same while other teams in the AFC got better.

You could argue, if you think Edmunds was some stud, that we actually got worse especially on the defensive side of the ball.

We're obviously a playoff team but last year was where everything fell the way it should have...until Hamlin...and the team derailed from there.

[Goobylal]

The reason for this in pundits eyes is we basically stayed the same while other teams in the AFC got better.

You could argue, if you think Edmunds was some stud, that we actually got worse especially on the defensive side of the ball.

We're obviously a playoff team but last year was where everything fell the way it should have...until Hamlin...and the team derailed from there.

Until Von.

[Mr. Pink]

Until Von.

We were still putting up points in bunches, yes that can catch up with you when you allow the opposition to do it too, see KC a couple years ago...but we completely just fell apart in that Miami game and then the Cincy game.

Without the tragic injury to Hamlin, I think we end up with home field advantage and are playing in the AFC Championship game at home.

And yes, we could have certainly lost another 41-38 type of barnburner to Mahomes again in that scenario.

[sukie]

AFC championship would have been Atlanta.

I think they will find a better LB than Edmunds. Perhaps by committee. The secondary is maybe better than the one that teed off on the Rams last year.

[DraftBoy]

I don’t think this is how you intended it but this reads like we’re just accepting that the window is either closing or has closed.

We probably have another year or two left of the window. If we can’t handle the pressure than that’s a bad sign.

[sukie]

I don’t think this is how you intended it but this reads like we’re just accepting that the window is either closing or has closed.

We probably have another year or two left of the window. If we can’t handle the pressure than that’s a bad sign.

I think many a prognosticator has already written the Bills off. Vegas? Not yet but Buffalo isn’t a story. I kinda like it. Under the radar baby!

[Night Train]

Never understood why Vegas established the Bills as the favorites in the first place. Was it the Von Miller signing ?

It's to draw $$, I get that. But the lemming media just piled on. KC should have been the favorites from the beginning with Cinci 2nd, based on the rosters and post season success the previous 2 years.

Now the Jets hype is way over the top. We'll see how they respond 9/11. Ignore Allen at your own peril.

[sukie]

A healthy Allen

[Mace]

The reason for this in pundits eyes is we basically stayed the same while other teams in the AFC got better.

You could argue, if you think Edmunds was some stud, that we actually got worse especially on the defensive side of the ball.

We're obviously a playoff team but last year was where everything fell the way it should have...until Hamlin...and the team derailed from there.

They started derailing after the bye imo...every game after became progressively more painstaking....

[YardRat]

---Allen plateaued last season, at best. We may have seen his ceiling already. Some guys just don't have 'it', and he may turn out to be one of them. Skipped working out with Palmer this off-season if the reports are true. Not encouraging.
---Cook is a gadget...Harris gets dinged...Murray is old.
---Last year at training camp we thought we had one of the best receiver rooms in the league. And Diggs wasn't pissing and moaning.

---Hyde, Poyer and White are another year older and another year more fragile.
---Dline was stacked last season at this time but severely under-achieved without Miller, who isn't going to be available at first and is another year older and more fragile.
---LBers are status quo, at best.

"Humble and hungry" is just rhetoric, I don't see it in action. I'll be pleasantly surprised if they can hold on to the division this season let alone improve on last year.

[sukie]

---Allen plateaued last season, at best. We may have seen his ceiling already. Some guys just don't have 'it', and he may turn out to be one of them. Skipped working out with Palmer this off-season if the reports are true. Not encouraging.
---Cook is a gadget...Harris gets dinged...Murray is old.
---Last year at training camp we thought we had one of the best receiver rooms in the league. And Diggs wasn't pissing and moaning.

---Hyde, Poyer and White are another year older and another year more fragile.
---Dline was stacked last season at this time but severely under-achieved without Miller, who isn't going to be available at first and is another year older and more fragile.
---LBers are status quo, at best.

"Humble and hungry" is just rhetoric, I don't see it in action. I'll be pleasantly surprised if they can hold on to the division this season let alone improve on last year.

Allen plateaued with an elbow ligament issue? I just hope Dorsey hasn’t plateaued

[JoeMama]

If Josh Allen were paired with Andy Reid, we wouldn't be having these discussions about:

"Is Allen the right guy to get us a ring?"
"Has Allen plateaued?"
"Does Allen care enough?"

Etc Etc

Allen is not what's holding us back.

[notacon]

They're 3rd in Vegas Odds to win the SB though.

Yeah....I have no idea where sukie got "the Bills are anywhere from 4th to 10th in league preseason power rankings” I have not seen the Bills any lower than 4th or 5th.

But his point is well taken in that the pressure is lower than last season. And that may, or may not turn out to be a good thing. I for one, do not believe the outside expectation mean as much as we outsiders think they do.

Not to say expectations have “no” effect. There is little doubt that Cincy thought themselves disrespected and over performed. That came back to bite them in the ass when the whole team got OVERCONFIDENT to the point of annoying cockiness where the "Burrowhead” smack talk and the mayor of Cincy making fools of themselves absolutely motivated the Chiefs.

I also believe that the Bills offensive failures (especially in the Cincy game) and throughout last season where the OFFENSE is why the Bills lost every one of the games they did, will have to team putting pressure on themselves.

The expectations games is less important than the changes that have taken place as sukie mentions.

What he did not mention is the unusual number of highly impactful injuries that severely hampered the defense....Hyde out almost the full season, Von Miller out when it counted most, Tre’ White barely gaining pre-injury performance level, relentless injuries to the backups...and their backups...and their backups....throughout the whole year.

Despite the challenges for the defense they STILL had a fantastic year. Elite defense for sure, but without the injuries they could have been dominating. Maybe that will come this season if they stay relatively healthy.

The more worrisome reality from last season was that the offense hardly had any impactful injuries. Yes, Josh hurt his elbow, but it did not seem to affect him that much. (McKenzie verified that in his Go Long podcast)

What was very disconcerting was despite the lack of injuries on the offense, they were more and more inconsistent and firing blanks more and more as the season progressed. Scoring only 10 points in a playoff game is an almost guaranteed LOSS.

That’s why I am encouraged that the offense has been massively overhauled. Every position group is seeing profound changes (except QB of course).

In the AFC a dynamic offense is critical for success. KC has not enjoyed their success because of a stellar defense.

[notacon]

The reason for this in pundits eyes is we basically stayed the same while other teams in the AFC got better.

You could argue, if you think Edmunds was some stud, that we actually got worse especially on the defensive side of the ball.

We're obviously a playoff team but last year was where everything fell the way it should have...until Hamlin...and the team derailed from there.

Until Von.

You are both right, to an extent. It was the accumulation of so many events. One on top of the other, until it just became too much to bear.